Legal Advice on Mega Millions Office Pools

By Jonnelle Marte

With Friday’s Mega Millions jackpot now at $640 million, many coworkers may be piling their cash together to vie for a piece of the record jackpot. They might want to consult a lawyer first.

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Before tossing money into an office pool, there are steps workers can take to ensure they get their fair share of any winnings, says New Jersey attorney Eric Kahn. He represented the five construction workers who sued a coworker for their cut of a $38.5 million payout. “People assume they’re never going to win the jackpot,” he says. “ “Then when they win, there’s a problem.”

Kahn’s clients sued coworker Americo Lopes, who they claim told them he was on leave for surgery in November 2009, when in fact he had won the big jackpot. When another person in the pool learned of his winnings a few months later, he discovered Lopes won on a date they played as a group. A jury awarded the former co-workers $4 million each. But most employees can avoid the courtroom with some simple steps, says Kahn.

For starters, make a list of the names and numbers of everyone in the pool, he says. A written contract isn’t necessary, but there should be no question about who played. Everyone who puts in cash should have a copy of the ticket. And if the person responsible for buying the ticket also plays the lottery regularly on their own, tickets that are meant to be shared with co-workers should be clearly identified. “You really want to eliminate any possibility of someone saying ‘I should have been included and was not,’” says Kahn.

There should also be a provision for vacations, since even loyal participants in an office pool might miss one particular drawing, Kahn says. Set up a system where people can put in their contribution before they take off on a trip or if they should just stay out of the ticket that week, he says. Last spring one worker in New York missed out on his share of a $319 million jackpot because he didn’t have the two bucks to put into the pool.